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LU 4 - 2 Simplification of A Distributed Load

Simplification of a Distributed Load

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17 views4 pages

LU 4 - 2 Simplification of A Distributed Load

Simplification of a Distributed Load

Uploaded by

joind164
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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LECTURE UNIT 4.

2 SIMPLIFICATION OF
A DISTRIBUTED LOAD
Distributed loads are expressed in terms of N/m3 (kN/m3 ),
N/m2 (kN/m2 ) or N/m (kN/m), depending on the
application.
Examples
(a) The weight of a 3-dimensional homogeneous body
describes a distributed load and it is expressed in N/m3
or kN/m3 .
(b) Pressure exerted at a point indicates load intensity and is
measured in N/m2 and 1 N/m2 = 1 Pa.
(c) The weight of a beam is an example of distributed load
that is expressed in N/m or kN/m.
We are interested in distributed loads on beams and we will
see how to find an equivalent force for the distributed load.
Uniform load along an axis
In general pressure depends on the point (x, y , z) where it acts.
Consider the case that pressure is applied to (i) a flat surface
area (ii) with a constant width as in the sketch on the left.
The pressure p now depends on (x, y ) only.
If in addition, the pressure does not vary along the y −axis for
a fixed x, p depends on x only, and we have p(x, y ) ≡ w (x).
The function w is called the load function and the graph of w
is related to the graph of p. The function w is expressed in
terms of a force/distance unit and x is merely a real variable
and not a distance.
p w
p(x, y ) w (x)
b

y b

x
(x, y ) x x
Beam applications
Consider a beam with constant cross-sectional area. Place the
neutral axis of the beam along the x−axis (horizontal axis),
with one end at x = a and the other end at x = b. Introduce a
vertical axis to represent the load intensity w . The graph w of
the distributed load is shown as well as the direction of the
pressure distribution; the downward arrows indicate this
direction. It is clear that the equilibrium
w of the beam depends on the
w distributed load on the beam.
The equilibrium equations are
however only formulated in
x terms of forces and distances,
a beam b
and not in terms of distributed
loads. The question that must be answered is how to handle
distributed loads in the equilibrium equations and the answer
is that distributed loads must be replaced by equivalent forces.
w w R
w
b
A
C
x x
a beam b a x b
It follows from the theory of equivalent systems and calculus,
that the distributed loading w can be replaced by a single
equivalent force
Rb
◮ R = w (x) dx and
a
◮ the line of action of R passes through the centroid C of
the shaded region A with x−coordinate
Rb
xw (x) dx
x = Ra b .
a
w (x)dx

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